Each piece of art, each idea that comes from a woman's imagination, has a story behind it.

Pamela Stewart's idea to create decorative chickens out of dryer lint popped into her head one day while she slept.

"It was one of those 3 a.m. inspirations," Stewart, owner off Raven Hill Studio in Española, said. "I said, 'Oh, chickens, we can do that,' and rolled back to sleep."

There also are women such as Chandra Kala Chapagai and her sister, Duka Maya Subedi, who now live in Albuquerque, who learned to make rice bags, rag rugs and pillows during the 17 years they lived in a refugee camp in Bhutan. For the first time in the history of the annual Rag Rug Festival and Design Collective, art contributed by the sisters and other women from countries in Africa such as Somalia and Sierra Leone will be available for purchase. The event, now in its seventh year, will run through today at the Stewart Udall Center for Museum Resources on Museum Hill, 725 Camino Alejo.

Despite the obstacles that Chapagai faced in the refugee camp — such as living under a tree for several months after a 2008 fire destroyed 1,400 homes — she still has the enthusiasm to sit behind a loom and weave an olive-colored rag rug she had on display at the festival Saturday. The refugee women are part of the Women's Global Pathways, a nonprofit organization in Albuquerque.

Rita Rafael also incorporates her culture and life story into her work. Rafael, a member of the eastern Navajo Reservation and the NaNeelzhiin Women's Craft Circle, showcased one of her colorful rugs with images of corn, soil, sun rays and the universe — all important symbols for the Navajos, she said.

For other women, sitting behind a loom means an opportunity to improve their economic status. That's why they participate in the Tres Manos (Three Hands) program headed by the Community Action Agency and operated out of San Miguel's Youth Art Center near Las Cruces.

"We are always working and selling," said Dolores Dorado, instructor and mentor to about 18 weavers.

Teresa Guerra, Tres Manos coordinator, said the program was started seven years ago in order to help people get out of poverty. Women and their families live in colonias, or small communities, that still lack basic infrastructure.

"Until recently, we had no sewage system, and some people are still not connected," Guerra said.

It is knowing these details that keep shoppers such as Sandra Crawford, a Santa Fe resident, interested in supporting the festival. She purchased several balls of yarn, some from recycled silk from saris imported from Nepal.

"I think I'm going to make a scarf," Crawford said, referring to the recycled silk she purchased from the Española Valley Fiber Arts Center booth.

Tonie Dunham of Los Alamos also was at the festival and walked around with her hands full: She toted around a batik outfit, a wool raven adorned with penny wool rugs and a couple of large gourds she will wrap in a few months as Christmas gifts. The gourds are homegrown, hand carved and painted by Margaret Garcia of Las Cruces.

"My father grew (gourds) and I wanted to do something with them," said Garcia, who started working with gourds three years ago. Without any formal art instruction, she uses everything from acrylic paints to shoe polish in order to color small Christmas tree ornaments and Indian dolls.

For other festival vendors such as Cat Brysch, selling her hand-woven material and seeing other people's creativity sprout is always a joy, she said. After 40 years of weaving, this is the first year she sells the material by the yard; she invests anywhere from one to five hours weaving each yard, she said.

When the Rag Rug Festival first began seven years ago, Frieda Arth, president of the New Mexico Women's Foundation, which sponsors the event, said she doubted for a few minutes that the rugs would sell. That first year, only seven women from Las Trampas set up their weavings in her home patio. To her surprise, once the doors opened, all the rugs were sold. This weekend, there are 35 booths representing 100 vendors, Arth said. More than 600 customers attended the festival Saturday, contributing to $35,000 worth of sales.

Now the pieces that are going home with the shoppers — rugs, scarves or gourds — have become part of someone else's story.

Contact Sandra Baltazar Martínez at 986-3062 or smartinez@sfnewmexican.com.